Combating infectious diseases

The emergence of COVID-19 sparked a huge increase in the volume of infectious disease deals in 2020, but how has the market fared in the past year?

COVID-19 reinforced the value of infectious disease vaccines and medicines. GSK works to realise that value by putting research and development at the heart of innovation, harnessing immune science, human genetics, and advanced technologies to deliver new and specialty products.

Orthogon Therapeutics is developing first-in-class anti-infective small molecule drugs using biophysics- and structure-based drug design to optimize compounds that target difficult-to-drug proteins. The company’s initial focus is on treating BK and JC polyomavirus infections in transplant patients.

Building on its history of successful collaborations, the global business unit at Sanofi responsible for vaccines is seeking partners with a common drive for excellence and pursuit of innovation.

Chimeron Bio aims to transform RNA therapy with its novel nanoparticle technology by developing new vaccines and therapies based on self-amplifying RNA for the treatment of infectious diseases, oncology and rare genetic disorders.

A pipeline of drug candidates includes two lead products that show promise in oncology and fibrosis applications.

Membrane lipids have long been neglected as therapeutic targets, but Laurent Pharmaceuticals is breaking new ground with LAU-7b, a first-in-class membrane-lipid modulator for the treatment of coronavirus infection.

HOOKIPA Pharma is developing a new class of arenavirus-based immunotherapies that activate and amplify targeted T cells to fight cancer. The company is seeking development and commercialization partners for several of its preclinical and clinical programs.